CatClaw Terminal vs Hermit SSH
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
CatClaw Terminal
Transform your mobile device into a powerful development environment. Access an SSH terminal, AI chatrooms, file management, and advanced workflow tools for on-the-go coding and debugging.
- Full SSH client with persistent sessions
- AI ghost-text suggestions and error explanations
- SFTP file browser with batch operations
- Multi-tool AI chatrooms with various AI models
- On-device Apple Intelligence features
- Background job execution with push notifications
- DevOps toolkit for code review and monitoring
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ClawTerminal turns your iPhone or iPad into a full mobile dev environment. SSH terminal, AI chatrooms, file browser, multi-agent orchestration, and a Mac-class workflow that fits in one hand. Start a refactor on the train. Review a PR at lunch. Diagnose an outage from bed. Your Mac does the heavy lifting; your phone is the remote control. WHAT'S NEW IN v1.5.0 - Push with no account - the new ntfy channel needs no login or registration. Run /notifier ntfy, pick a topic, and subscribe in the free ntfy app. Telegram, Discord, and Slack work too. - Every Claude Code command works - ClawTerminal forwards any slash command your claude session supports, including new ones in future CLI releases, instead of an unknown-command error. - QR connect - set up a connection once, show it as a QR, and scan it on another iPhone or iPad. No retyping host, port, and key on a phone keyboard. - Claude Fable 5 - the fast 1M-context model is selectable everywhere, with a new Fast agent-routing preset that runs your whole team on it. - Quiet while the app is open - no more double-buzzing for a job you are already watching; banners resume when you leave. WHAT YOU GET A Real Terminal - Full SSH client with persistent sessions, themes, autocomplete - Vim, htop, tmux, mosh - everything just works - AI ghost-text suggestions; tap errors for instant explanations - SFTP file browser with batch operations - Share a connection by QR to set up a second device in one scan (NEW) - iPad multi-window, drag and drop, cursor support Multi-Tool AI Chatrooms - Claude, Codex, Gemini, or Aider - switch tools per chatroom - Direct API mode or CLI mode over SSH to your Mac - Claude Fable 5, Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku model options (NEW) - Apple Intelligence on-device when no API key is set - ?prefix routes a message through parallel exploration - Cross-session memory and custom skills tailored to you Power Commands - /research - in-app propose-evaluate-refine for about a penny - /whatif - predict 3 likely outcomes before a risky command - /frugal - strip the preamble for cheaper, faster answers - /duck - Socratic rubber-duck debugging - /standup - daily standup from yesterday's chat plus git log Multi-Agent Orchestration - /batch, /team, /race, /orchestrate - parallel agents, side-by-side - Quality, Balanced, Budget, or Fast (all Fable 5) routing presets (NEW) - Git worktree isolation per agent with --vcs - --app opens a visual command center; bare commands use Claude's native orchestration Background Jobs with Push - /submit runs long jobs in the background; push when they finish - /notifier ntfy - no account, no login, just a topic you pick (NEW) - /notifier setup for APNs from your own Mac; /notifier telegram for your own bot - Chat-app push for Hermes and OpenClaw results (Telegram, Discord, Slack, ntfy) - Per-job cost tracking, budgets, auto-recovery DevOps Toolkit - /git, /health, /monitor, /security, /pr, /preview, /conflicts - AI code review, live web preview, merge conflict resolver Context-Aware AI (OPT-IN) - Time, calendar, motion, battery shape Claude's tone and length The Learn Hub - 6 interactive tutorial tracks, 43 hands-on steps - Written tutorials and examples, bundled offline Cross-Device - /handoff between phone and Mac tmux sessions - Shared chatrooms, synced profiles, Apple Watch companion Voice and Camera - /voice and Speak with Search (iOS 26 SpeechAnalyzer) - Snap and Code - point camera at a whiteboard, get code Privacy First - All credentials in the iOS Keychain - On-device AI when supported - your prompts can stay on the phone - No account, no telemetry, no tracking, no ads WHO IT IS FOR - Developers who want their Mac available everywhere - Indie founders and DevOps engineers shipping from anywhere - Anyone who wants Claude Code, Codex, or Gemini from a phone Requires an SSH-reachable Mac or Linux server for heavy work. AI chatrooms also work fully offline from your Mac via direct API mode or Apple Intelligence on iOS 26.
Hermit SSH
A focused SSH client for developers interacting with AI coding assistants on remote machines. Connect to your dev server, manage tmux sessions, and use configurable soft keys and voice input for efficient command execution.
- SSH connections with ed25519 private key authentication
- Automatic tmux session attach
- Configurable soft key ribbon bar
- Voice input with iOS dictation
- xterm.js terminal rendering
- iCloud Drive sync
- Private keys stored securely in iOS Keychain
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Hermit is a focused SSH client built for developers who work with AI coding assistants on remote machines. Connect to your dev server, attach to tmux sessions, and interact using configurable soft keys and voice input. Unlike general-purpose terminal apps, Hermit is designed around a specific workflow: you have an AI CLI tool running in a tmux session on a remote machine, and you want to monitor and interact with it from your phone. Five soft keys — 1, 2, Enter, Escape, and a microphone — give you everything you need to approve tool calls, reject changes, send commands, and dictate instructions. KEY FEATURES * SSH connections with ed25519 private key authentication * Automatic tmux session attach on connect * Configurable soft key ribbon bar optimized for AI coding workflows * Voice input with iOS dictation — speak your instructions, proofread, and send * xterm.js terminal rendering with proper color and escape code support * Automatic iCloud Drive sync — your hosts and sessions available on all devices * Dark mode interface designed for terminal use * Private keys stored securely in the iOS Keychain BUILT FOR AI CODING WORKFLOWS The default soft keys map directly to common AI CLI approval patterns: 1 — Accept (approve tool calls and edits) 2 — Reject Enter — Confirm multi-line input Escape — Cancel or interrupt Mic — Open voice input for longer instructions OPEN SOURCE Hermit is open source so you can review exactly what runs on your device and how your SSH credentials are handled. No analytics, no tracking, no data collection.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: CatClaw Terminal at every 2 weeks against Hermit SSH's monthly. On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for CatClaw Terminal against 5.0 for Hermit SSH. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 2 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
CatClaw Terminal ships an update every 2 weeks, Hermit SSH monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | CatClaw Terminal | Hermit SSH |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 27 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Liqun Chen | Dave Stanton |
Customer experience
CatClaw Terminal
Hermit SSH
In-app purchases
CatClaw Terminal
No in-app purchases
Hermit SSH
No in-app purchases





